Think for some it might be interesting to see one of my tooling works before the coloring.

And here's the finished item:Finally it's done - the main pattern on the front of the bag might have been one of the most intricate and time intense toolings I have made so far. Therefore I decided to keep the rest of the bag rather simple.This bag is actually a present for my dear mom who always wanted a shoulder bag from me - I guess she will be happy with it...

Monday, 1 August 2011

Lönndom - Those of you with a decent musical taste will already know this two man band from northern Sweden - if not it's highly recommended to check them out.In cooperation with Nordvis Produktion I designed these very special merchandise items - now available at:http://lonndom.bigcartel.com/

Belt Bag I made for myself, hence my own logo in the front and a pattern I have tattooed on my left arm on the inside. This belt bag is thought to be my companion in the outdoors, so it consists of some extra features like some inner flaps that prevent things falling out as well as keeping rain and dirt outside, as well as an extra bag for my cellphone and a carabiner resp. a d-ring too attach things. Will test this one very soon on a trip to the north...

Monday, 30 May 2011

This job was a very special one and the result is among my best works so far, from the design to the final items. When I was contacted by the girlfriend of the band's drummer to make bracers for the guys of Einherjer it was as much honour as challenge. This band, and especially their Aurora Borealis - Demo had a huge impact on me and is still one of the very first names when it comes to true Viking Metal.I had quite free hands in all regards and so I went through all the artworks of their releases looking for something that would look good on leather. However I just found one symbol they were repeatedly using throughout the years but I felt that I had to take it and to change it a bit.The result has not too much to do with the original, though I have to say it became a beautiful piece of art.

Since not both bracers of each pair should display the same designs, I decided to create the second part myself from the scratch. The result was this not necessarily groundbreaking but still very effective image of viking-style helmet, axe, sword and shield, the latter incorporating an E for (you guess it) EINHERJER, also with a certain norse-twist.

As almost all my designs it became way too complicated to be used one-to-one but I hate to limit myself when I am in the process of creation so I prefered to implement the full scope of my artistic vision in the patterns. Then, prior to the actual tooling, I just had to figure out which extent of it would be possible to execute on the leather and which elements had to be removed.

However the sheer amount of details I was able to accomplish acctually surprised myself. I did 4 pairs of these bracers and I was satisfied with each of them.Another very special thing about this work was my payment - I did not make this job for money but for ink! I got an underarm half-sleeve for my efforts, made by my client Renathe Horvei Bryn herself - she is an excellent tattoo-artist working at the Karma Tattoo Studio in Haugesund, Norway.

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Customizing these biker vests (yes,there are two of them) was a pain in the ass job but it looks quite great, I think.What made it so fuckin complicated were the tons of fabrics inside - had to get under that stuff without destroying to much of it...Design of the hammer is (of course) my own

This medium sized drinking horn is a unique tribute to the immortal old norse customs of celebration.

The self-designed ornamental patterns on this individual item are inspired by different norse styles of art commonly associated with the viking age. For the decoration two different techniques were used: Carving and Pyrography - the deep bas-relief carving and the warm brown tones of the burned parts give an exquisite contrast and depth.The runic inscriptions dedicate this horn to Odin and vow the drink taken from this ritual vessel.

Another commissioned work. Don't blame me for doing Thor's Hammers all the time - I just do what the customers want ;)But anyway - it's a great and powerfull symbol and I guess I will never be tired of doing it. Design is of course my own again!

Friday, 27 May 2011

comissioned work - made these already some months ago but since they were a birthday present now in may, I could not publish any pictures before.These are a bit different from my other bracers but actually I wanted to do something like that heraldic stuff for a long time.

Inspiration taken from G. R. R. Martins books... You know: Winter is coming!

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Monday, 7 March 2011

It is seldom that I am absolutely satisfied with one of my works. Strange but true last week was an exception and all pieces I finished recently turned out into what I would call my personal masterpieces.This epic bracer is part of a pair and was a custom work for the vocalist of the famous Viking Death Metal band Amon Amarth.The terms of reference were easy - the bracers should be like my good old and bestselling Hammer bracers but with buckles instead of a lacing.

One of the bracers should display Odin or something related to him and the other a Thor's hammer. So I designed a pattern showing Odin's face crowned by his Ravens and some surrounding knotwork. I took inspiration from some wooden statues as well as the famous Aarhus Mask.While the Odin Bracer is a quite intricate one, I wanted to make the hammer a bit more simple. I wanted to create a new Mjölnir but as close to the originals as possible, a pattern that you easily could imagine as a pendant.

Friday, 25 February 2011

Another custom work for a Stafford - this time a collar for a female with the beautiful name Vivre and a belt bag with the kennel logo for her owners.

Collar and belt bag have a matching design with a knotwork including the traditional Stafford Knot as well as well as the same colour scheme. I will update this entry with a picture of Vivre wearing her collar as soon as I get it ;)

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

The design of this viking belt bag was also inspired by the hilt of a sword found in the grave of a noble woman in Suontaka Finland.After finishing the wristband from my last post, I studied the sword of Suontaka a bit more and became totally overwhelmed by the patterns on it's hilt. Since I was planning to make another belt bag for a while, I found these patterns quite fitting for the sake and so I took them and changed them slightly to match the shape of the bag, added some own ideas and so on.I really love the result and right now I think about to create a belt for it as well. This depends on my spare time and as soon as this bag will be for sale (with or without an appropriate belt) I will update this post.

Thursday, 17 February 2011

This work is a kind of collaboration with Leidungr, a swedish neofolk ambient project formed 2010.If you are into obscure folk stuff you should definitely check them out - I am sure that their debut album will be one of the best releases in 2011, certainly the best non-metal release. So far you can only check out their Youtube channel where you find some great examples of their musical art. Leidungr's YouTube channel

This design is thought to become a part of their logo - that's the reason I put it into the designs and interfaces section.Maybe some of you might think that this seems familiar and you are right. The design is based on a rather bad black and white picture I got from Leidungr, showing this sunwheel in an inappropriate angle. So my job was partly reconstruction and inventing the parts that weren't visible in the foto to get it into a frontal position.We don't know the exact origin of the reference picture or the wooden sunwheel depicted so if anyone knows it - do not hesitate to let me know ;)However I assume it could be of german origin probably from the first half of the last century

Friday, 21 January 2011

Recently I decided to work together with this promising young Viking Metal band from my area - I will make some artistic stuff for them and provide them with some leather and other crafted things - they will do some promotion work for me ;)

This logo was my first job for them and actually their previous one was the prototype of this one - however it needed a real makeover - so I took the idea and translated it to my own artistic language and actually this is one of my favourites among the logos I have made...

Monday, 3 January 2011

It's plain and simple another description of my favorite kind of deals - good old bartering!I am open for any kind of exchange deals with people who can provide me with arts, cultural goods as books and music, crafts and materials of high quality.So if you are an artist, craftsman, publisher, label owner or whatever - and interested in my work, do not hesitate to contact me and submit your proposal!

First of all you need to write an e-mail to me - you find the adress in my profile.Please let me know as exact as possible what you are out for - the more you tell me right from the start the less mails we got to write to get to the finished items ;)So tell me your wishes with all the details that are important for you!

The next step will be that I create the design for your custom work and provide you with a kind of sketch that gives you an idea about how the final piece will look like.You get this attached to an email and you can either approve the design or veto against my suggestion and tell me what to change. We will play this game until you have no further suggestions for improvement.

The next step is the payment - for extremely personalized stuff including names, logos, coat of arms etc. I demand the full price in advance, for works that would be alienable in spite of the individual character, only half of the price is demanded beforehand.

Now it's my turn to craft your item - this might take one day, one week or one month, depending on the complexity and the necessary efforts. But at this point you will already have an estimate from my side about how long you have to wait.

As soon as the item is ready, you will get another email with attached images of the finished product.

Then it's time for shipping and we are ready!

The price is 200 SEK for every hour of work. Of course I can't know the exactly needed time prior to work, but I will make an estimation based on my experience.

Sunday, 2 January 2011

Once again the swedish wolves need your help - follow this link and support them with your signature![link]

Here's my translation of the text on the petition site for those who are not able to understand swedish - it might be far from perfect, but I think it's enough to explain the whole thing:

Say NO to another licensed Wolf Hunt in 2011!

On january the 15 th 2011 the starting shot will be fired for another extensive wolfhunt in Sweden.

In spite of the fact that the population is small and fragile, Sweden continues to shot wolves this winter.

Last years' hunt resulted in the shoting of many alpha leaders and that one of the last year's litters was left without their parents. There are no indications that these puppies might have survived. Furthermore, in relation to the size of the wolf population, too many wolves were shot and additionally the death rate has been unusually high after the hunt. The difficult genetic situation hasn't improved and any hunt will further aggravate the state. If genetic strengthening will work out is not known yet.

In 2011 there are plans to shot 20 wolves in the six counties Dalarna, Gävleborg, Västra Götaland, Värmland, Örebro och Västmanlands län. Again about 10 % of the wolf population are supposed to be shot, despite the fact that Wolves are a heavily endangered species in Sweden. The hunt will be carried out in the same way as last year, which means that there are no restrictions taking the wolves into consideration. Neither parental couples with puppies nor offspring from immigrated wolves are protected.

In Sweden there's no possibilty to appeal against the licensed hunt, even though it lacks a legal as well as a scientific basis. Therefore Svenska Rovdjursföreningen, Naturskyddsföreningen, Världsnaturfonden WWF and Djurskyddet Sverige reported last winter's hunt to the responsible EU-commission. A reply is yet anticipated.

The swedish government motivates the hunt with the argument that it obtains acceptance for wolves. However a majority of the swedish folk, even in regions with an occurence of wolves, has already a positive opinion towards wolves in Sweden. On the other hand there's no indication at all that the minorities which oppose the wolf have changed their minds to a more tolerant stance since last year's wolf hunt.

Show the swedish politicians that you take a stance against the hunt and support the wolf!

Make your voice heard and sign the petition below that will be handed over to Environment Secretary Andreas Carlgren.

Take the cahnce and become a member of the Svenska Rovdjursföreningen/Swedish Association for Predators: www.rovdjur.se.

Appeal!

* I protest against the licensed wolf hunt 2011 in Sweden and demand that it stops! No licensed wolf hunt before there is a wolf population in Sweden that is genetically healthy and viable!

* I also protest against the limitation of the wolf population to a maxiumum number of 210 individuals! Let the population grow and set a new preliminary aim of 400 wolves until there is a plan for a long-sighted viable wolfpopulation in Sweden!

Background information:

Sweden has one of the most vulnerable european wolf populations; it is small, isolated and genetically heavily impoverished.Furthermore in Sweden a lot of wolves get killed, legally and illegally. The recent activities are completely out of the authorities' control and there has been a strong escalation in association with the licensed hunt. Just in 2010 about 40 swedish wolves have been shot legally - out of a total population number of approximately 250 individuals. Out of the total death rate of around 60 wolves in one year the majority of cases were due to hunting. Another unknown quantity of dead wolves has to be added due to illegal hunt.

- Any hunt corrupts the situation for the very vulnerable wolf population.

- The plan of releasing genetically unrelated wolves struggles against huge problems and is insufficient.

Collect signatures!If you want to help with collecting signatures you can download the petition here: [link]